Want to move, but need a job first? Employers tend to be leery of hiring from out of the area, but networking has a way of opening doors. How can you network in a different city or state where you don’t know people?

Job search networking begins at home(town).

You may not know anyone in San Jose, Austin, or New York, but maybe you know people who do. Start with your friends. Ask them if they know anyone in your target area who they could introduce you to – whether those people are in your line of work or not.

After all, you’re also looking for general information: what it’s like living there, better and worse neighborhoods and so on. Those topics are great for starting conversations, which can segue into asking whether they know anyone who does work similar to you, or anyone who works at certain companies you’re interested in.

Here’s where LinkedIn gets really handy.

Your friends may not be able to tell you offhand who they know in another city, so go to their LinkedIn profile and click the “See Connections” link in the upper right of their profile. (If you don’t see that link, they may have disabled this feature in their settings.) You now have the ability to search through your friend’s contacts, and can approach him or her to ask whether certain introductions would be appropriate.

Of course, you can also use LinkedIn to directly search for alumni and other people in your target area. Click the search field, click “People,” then use the filters on the right to enter your target location. You might try narrowing your search to people you went to school with.

You can also join LinkedIn Groups in your target city. Type the city into the search field then selected “Groups” under the “More” dropdown menu. See what you can learn, and who you can get connected to and have conversations with.

Here’s how I found contacts in a randomly chosen city – in less than three minutes.

As a test, I decided to see who I could network with in New York, a city where I’ve never lived. Using the steps in the previous paragraph, I ended up with a list including several fellow alumni of my alma mater Cal State Northridge, along with many other New Yorkers with whom I share connections. Perusing the list, I saw one person who works as a recruiter and knows one of my fellow career coaches, Tom, with whom I have a friendly relationship. And lo and behold, Tom also lives in the Big Apple – a fact I’d never noticed before.

I only spent two or three minutes coming up with those results. I could easily play around with adjusting the search criteria to find other New Yorkers with whom I have something common. If I were looking for a job in NYC, I could then gradually build a relationship with some of these folks on social media and through informational interviews.

Attend an industry event.

Why not attend an industry event in your target location? To get the most value from your travel costs, arrange some coffee dates with local people at the same time.

Look for organizations with branches in both cities.

Some of your target companies in that new city may also have facilities in your hometown. Network with the locals and seek introductions to staff members in the other city.

Think about any organizations you already belong to that might have branches in both cities. This could include professional associations, alumni groups, religious organizations or charities you volunteer with. This can be a very effective way to get introduced to people in the new city.

Use these networking experiences to demonstrate your commitment to relocating.

All of this will take time, and some of it may cost money. The bright side is, the fact that you made the investment demonstrates your commitment to the move, and you can share about your activities in your discussions with prospective employers to reassure them you’re serious.

Networking to find a job in a different city may be more do-able than you thought. You might even find it to be an interesting adventure! Watch for a future post with more must-know tips for getting a job in a new city.